REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MANILA -- Philippine police have arrested a 20-year-old Filipino man for refusing to stand while the national anthem was played in a movie theatre, news reports said on Sunday.
The arrest stemmed from a complaint by Philippine diplomat Elmer Cato who was also at the movie house in Angeles City, Pampanga, north of Manila, to watch the film Justice League.
Police identified the arrested man as Bayle Einstein Gonzales. He will face charges of violating the Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines and could be fined from 5,000 pesos (around 100 U.S. dollars) to 20,000 pesos (around 400 U.S. dollars) and jailed for as long as a year.
Cato, the charge d'affairs to Iraq, wrote on his Facebook page on Saturday that Gonzales ignored him twice when he asked him to stand.
He said, "My blood was really boiling. I was so agitated I was not really able to enjoy the movie. I had to do something to teach this Filipino a lesson. And I did."
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